This movie has Acamedy Award porn written all over it – except for the fact that it won’t win (maybe a BAFTA though if the Brits don’t think Boyhood is good enough and they don’t fall into the trap of thinking Birdman is better than it is – I’ll get to that). Tackling multiple issues at once, The Imitation Game is as genius as Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) portrayal of Alan Turing.

Since I am a little frustrated as I write this, the first thing we are shown is that there are only a handful of people in the world that are completely passionate to a fault about what they do. This causes an unwavering drive to solve the big problem instead of creating a temporary fix for whatever issue is being addressed. You can’t just say you are the best in the world at something because of your past achievement, you must continuously prove to yourself that you are the best.

Alan Turing knew what his purpose in life was – to end the war and he stopped at nothing to do so. Well he was a very anti-social and standoffish at the beginning once people realized his legacy of intelligence, people weren’t so quick to judge him and he made true friends. Its really sad, but world peace will never be achieved if people continuously dislike people who are different from them.

Along with intelligence in his passioned subject, Alan Turing also found that his sexual preferences could get him sent to jail, or even killed. This is the most ridiculous

thing ever believed by anyone – if you can’t accept somebody for who they are, you can’t accept yourself.

Congratulations world… you killed one of the most brilliant people to ever live. I wonder what he would have done, if he had the opportunity to live even longer than he did.

Make better choices and fight for something you are passionate about that helps the world, not something that harms the people in it.

There is no phrase more harmful in the English language than “Good Job”. While this isn’t a new concept and this isn’t the first time I have heard of this philosophy, JK Simmons’s (Spiderman) words strongly resonated with me. Whiplash is an absolute masterpiece and may be my favorite movie of the year – I won’t know until a week before the Oscars what I finally decide.

Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) is much more than a rising star, he is a star, and has found himself on top of the world. And damn… that kid can play the drums! Whiplash is basically Black Swan applied to music minus the fantasy aspects our friend Darren Aronofsky (Noah) runs on. It is a brutal film that isn’t enjoyable to sit through, but it has the best payoff I have seen in a movie all year.

A lot of reviews I have been writing lately have centered around being motivated to create something out of what you love. Well, in order to be the best, you must push yourself to the limits of your mind. There is no such thing as perfection, only growth and the Simmons/Teller duo shows us that some of the best partnerships are ones where a mutual respect is achieved through pain and suffering.

Because once you suffer and make all the mistakes you possibly can, then, and only then, can you be the best in the world at what you do.

Hugh Jackman’s true Les Miserables followup (The Wolverine doesn’t count) places him in a role that is similarly tragic to Jean Valjean. As the father of one of two young girls kidnapped on Thanksgiving, he has the realistic father drive of circumventing the authorities to find his daughter at any expense.

Jake Gyllenhaal (End of Watch) plays a respectable police officer, stuck in the middle of the kidnapping case. While doing his best to lead by example, his vigilante side cycles in and out as he encounters Jackman’s character. The last two players are the story’s antagonist, played by Paul Dano (12 Years a Slave) and his mother (Melissa Leo, The Fighter) who both have equally mysterious roles.

All our main characters take turns being a prisoner in one way or another. Paul Dano may even put up with the most prisoner behavior (maybe its deserved?) and soars in his almost dialogue-less role. The whole movie shows how unfair and crazy the world can be. Jackman has an incredible performance on the heels of 2012’s Oscar nomination.

Beyond its serious themes, Prisoners is not as disturbing as other films in the same genre. Maybe this is because the visual representation of rape and child abuse disturbs the shit out of me, or the film is dynamically a fairytale. The characters are drawn out very well and each set piece feels like a new chapter. It may be long, but with emotions high and a great ending make it one of the best films of 2013.

I am a little late to the party with this review (movie has been out on Netflix for a little while), but I believe it is important for two reasons. First, the film will fall somewhere in my top 25 films of the year. Second, Mudfurthers Matthew McConaughey’s campaign for best actor in a leading role for the Oscars.

I am aware that I waited awhile to see this film, but I believe it was fair of me to do. Besides Killer Joe I hadn’t watched one of his movies since Fool’s Gold (in my opinion one of the worst movies of all time). Now I realize that the new McConaughey is in the house and as far as I’m concerned after starring in Christopher Nolan’s Intersteller along with winning his Oscar this year, that he will be the hottest commodity in Hollywood.

With that being said, Mud was an overall great film (it just came out too early in the year and has too much competition from high profile Hollywood directors for the Take Shelter’s Jeff Nichols to get some Oscar love). Mud (McConaughey) is wanted for murder in connection with his undying love for a woman named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon, Water for Elephants). Chased by bounty hunters he finds refuge in a deserted boat on a secluded island.

Enter one of the best young actor performance of the year by Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life) as Ellis (basically the same character as Mud when he was young and blinded by his infatuation with his first love). The whole movie is about letting go and being free, instead of being blinded by people manipulating and using you from your past.